Why Don’t We Have Wonderful “Waffle House” in Tri-Cities?

I read a blurb online today about 35% of Waffle House customers do not like grits. I thought this was odd since there are NO Waffle House restaurants in the Pacific Northwest. However, it instantly reminded me of all the good visits I've made in years past to various Waffle Houses.

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Naturally, I had to Google to learn a little. It's a southern chain that was founded in Atlanta 60 years ago. Today, there are over 2,000 locations in 25 states.

My first Waffle House Visit

My first encounter was in Gulf Breeze, FL. My co-worker, "Jim" and I went out for breakfast at the Waffle House down the street, after our shifts at the radio station. I was instantly taken with the "pecan waffle", one of the chain's signature staples. It's a delightful sweet cream waffle with pecan pieces sprinkled in. I scarfed it down. OK, I made my way through half of it. It seems my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Jim had a full platter of eggs, grits, bacon, sausage, and cheese grits. I remember it was my first time ever tasting grits, I loved them!

The Waffle House was such a popular restaurant, there were two locations on one block of Davis Highway near my apartment. Needless to say, in my year's time in Pensacola, I made several visits to various Waffle House locations. Most of them were on Davis Highway, right near my home. And, I became a fan of cheese grits.

The Waffle House Popularity

After googling, "waffle house", I did learn that we do have a number of restaurants serving breakfast here, like the Original Pancake House, IHOP, CG Public House and Catering, Andy's Coffee Break, Andy's North, Denny's, and Hill's Restaurant. There are so many more.

I still miss the real "Waffle House."